


Same Time Tomorrow

by Finely Honed (jaqen_hgar)



Series: Imagine Tony & Bucky [64]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Recovering, M/M, Matchmaking, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Tony, Pining Bucky Barnes, Pining Tony Stark, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, Troll Steve Rogers, Working Out is Sexy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-29 10:29:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5124218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaqen_hgar/pseuds/Finely%20Honed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <span class="small">Prompts: Imagine Bucky taking on Steve's offer to work out in the gym area every morning. At first Tony comes along just to tease, but he finds himself enjoying the show every time he arrives (Bonus points if Bucky thinks he's there to see Steve) + Adorable oblivious tony+pining hopelessly in love Bucky + troll best friend Steve making Bucky jealous until he snaps.</span>
</p>
<p>Bucky felt like there were a lot of things about the world and his life that reminded him on a daily basis of how much he’d changed, but oddly enough the continual sticking point for him wasn’t his missing arm, or the lost time, the anxiety attacks, nightmares, or the way his memory was like a sieve; it was Steve and Tony. Specifically the fact that he couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on between the two of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Same Time Tomorrow

When Bucky agreed to morning workouts with Steve, he thought it’d be just the two of them. And it was, for a couple days. Then Tony trailed in behind Steve one morning, bringing with him croissants, a criminally large cup of coffee, and his mouth.

“I’d complain about how early you do this, except I haven’t gone to bed yet, so for me it’s late. Really, though, Cap; sleeping in is the American Way. I highly recommend slacking.”

Steve just smiled, countered with, “says the hardest working person I know.”

Tony’s sudden deer in headlights impression made it obvious he was convinced that the compliment might actually be a clever ploy to humiliate him. He popped a bit of croissant in his mouth, chewed slowly, and eventually smiled back when he realized no one was messing with him.

Bucky felt like there were a lot of things about the world and his life that reminded him on a daily basis of how much he’d changed, but oddly enough the continual sticking point for him wasn’t his missing arm, or the lost time, the anxiety attacks, nightmares, or the way his memory was like a sieve; it was Steve and Tony. Specifically the fact that he couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on between the two of them.

If he was in a good mood, Tony flirted with everyone—well, everyone except Bucky—so he couldn’t take the teasing remarks or batting of the eyelashes in Steve’s direction as irrefutable evidence that Tony was interested in Steve. They were obviously good friends, were comfortable enough to invade each other’s personal space, and Tony spent almost as much time with Steve as he did, which was saying a lot since he shared a suite with Steve. Worse, when Tony  _was_  with Steve, he smiled at him. A lot. Like he was doing right now.

Figuring out Tony was one thing. Steve was another, and maybe that was the real source of his consternation. Bucky felt rather strongly that he should’ve been able to tell how Steve felt about Tony without even asking. He’d always had a good bead on what was going on in Stevie’s head, but when it came to Tony he was left with a big fat question mark. So that was kind of depressing, really.

And sure, he could have opened his mouth andasked, but the problem was he wasn’t sure what to do with the answer once he got it. If Steve wasn’t interested in Tony, he’d sure as shit be interested in finding out why Bucky wanted to know. Wasn’t like Steve’s lack of interest meant anything as far as Tony was concerned, anyway. Plus, if Steve said, “yeah, Tony is my sweetheart,” then Bucky would have to accept that answer, and congratulate his friend, and then spend the rest of his life dying inside from unrequited love.

Because, somehow, without him having any say in the matter, Tony Stark had made him fall in love with him. Well, fine, “made” was sort of a strong way of putting it. Bucky had done the falling all on his own, apparently without Tony having any idea one way or the other that anything was happening.

He’d been struggling with his identity, wanting to turn himself in, wanting to keep running, not wanting to do much of anything but waste away in a back alley as he tried to figure out if he was a monster, or a victim. Sam had found him, and Steve had made it seem like there was only one logical choice, but Tony was the one who made him believe he belonged in Avengers Tower.

It was little things, like the conversational way Tony explained everything he was doing or about to do when he worked on the arm. Unlike some of his previous technicians and handlers, Tony never hurt him, or made him feel like he was secondary to the arm. It was fun and more than a little fascinating to be down in the shop, watching the upgrades happen. After a month or two, Bucky actually understood enough about how his bionic limb worked that he could do his own basic repairs when out in the field. He even had a little toolkit Tony had put together for him.

When they’d run into each other at odd hours because of his inability to sleep, Tony had told him about some of his own nightmares. Had told him about his panic attacks, too, and the guilt he carried around with him about his life prior to Afghanistan. He’d talk about the arc reactor, and how sometimes he missed it, would occasionally wake in a panic convinced it’d all been a dream, and he was the “old” Tony Stark.

Somehow, Tony had gone out of his way to make sure Bucky was comfortable, all without making it feel like he was being treated with kid gloves, or pitied, or tolerated. Just like he belonged. Like he was always meant to be there, like Tony had been saving a seat for him, and he’d finally shown up, and…

It also didn’t hurt that he was beautiful. Brilliant, funny, smart mouthed, a total pain in the ass at times, even adorable on occasion. A brat, too, but in the way that made you want to deck anyone else that’d dare criticize him. He smiled, and Bucky wanted to touch the corners of his mouth, wanted to taste his smile, kiss the little crinkles that formed at the corners of his eyes.

Apparently being brainwashed into a badass assassin also made you a huge sap.

Bucky didn’t have any doubts regarding Tony’s friendship. The guy obviously liked him. Hell, sometimes Tony gave him these shy, vulnerable little smiles, and Bucky’s heart would dance around in his chest in anticipation, thinking Tony was going to kiss him, or ask him out to dinner, and then Steve fucking Rogers would walk into the room, and that was the end of it. Not that he would ignore Bucky, just that…  _something_  would change.

So, yeah. Maybe Iron Man was in love with Captain America. Couldn’t really blame him. Steve was very loveable. Steve was also driving him nuts, because he kept inviting Tony to come along for everything, which meant Bucky was constantly driving himself nuts with the “are they, aren’t they?” debate.

Like two nights before.

“I can’t believe you were going to have an  _Aliens_  marathon without me, Cap!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Steve insisted.

Then he’d led Tony over to the couch and gave him a playful push. Of course, Bucky had already been sitting there, his arm out along the back, which meant when Tony landed he wound up momentarily pressed against Bucky’s side, his arm sliding down around Tony’s shoulders before Tony straightened himself back out and Bucky quickly rearranged himself.

“They’re very different movies,” Tony said, smiling at Bucky. He reached into the bowl of popcorn Steve dropped into Bucky’s lap, grabbed a handful, and crunched away. “I’m curious to find out which one is your favorite.”

For just a moment, while Tony was munching popcorn and smiling at him, Bucky couldn’t remember where he was or what he was doing. Not in the Winter Soldier fugue state way, either. In the, “look at all the little golden flecks in his brown eyes,” and, “why are his lower lashes so pretty?” and, “I should probably lick the butter and salt off of his lips,” kind of way.

But then Steve took the seat on Tony’s left, and the spell was broken. Bucky passed along the bowl of popcorn, and tried to pay attention to the movie instead of cataloging each time Tony leaned in to Steve’s personal space, or shared a joke with him.

The movies were good—he liked the first one the best—even if some of the cryotube scenes made him feel like something cold and nasty was squirming around in his chest. The best part was when Tony’s sleep deprivation caught up with him sometime during the third movie, and he slouched in Bucky’s direction. For almost ten minutes he had Tony leaning against him, snoring softly.

“I’ll be right back.”

Only, the reason Steve was going to be right back was because he was carrying Tony off to bed. It was ridiculous! Mostly because it seemed like this wasn’t the first time Steve had carried Tony off somewhere. Tony hardly even stirred, murmured something about peanut butter, then went back to sleep in Steve’s arms.

Bucky stared at the empty bowl of popcorn the entire time Steve was gone, trying to figure out if platonic friends carried each other to bed in the future, or if Steve was currently pressing a goodbye kiss against Tony’s lips before heading back down to finish the movie marathon.

And that was just one example from this week alone. Thinking on all of that had him so distracted that he almost missed it when Tony said, “Slow down, let me enjoy the show.”

Automatically, he stopped moving, hovering just above the ground in mid one-armed push up, suddenly aware of the burning in his muscles. He had no idea how many reps he’d just completed. For a second, Bucky thought Tony was talking to him, had been watching him, but beside him, Steve had been whipping through a jump rope routine fast enough that it didn’t even look like there was a rope there. Tony had obviously been talking to him.

With a sigh, he pushed himself up to his feet, and went to work on some flips. Natasha had done an amazing little corkscrew maneuver the other day, and he really wanted to one up her. He was fully aware that it was a pipe dream, but that wasn’t going to stop him from trying.

He happened to glance over to where Tony was sitting, found him pink in the cheeks and a little wide eyed. He looked away as soon as he realized Bucky was looking back, and when Bucky looked over his shoulder, there was Steve doing a little stretch. Bucky felt his spirits sink. Seemed like there was no denying what he’d known all along; Tony had a crush on Steve.

Of course, having that confirmed for him didn’t really help his situation any. Neither did Steve.

“Same time tomorrow, fellas?” Steve asked when they finished up.

Tony nodded his agreement, almost hiding behind his emptied cup of coffee. He cleared his throat. “Looking forward to it.”

“You could always join in,” Steve suggested. “Bucky wouldn’t mind. Would you, Buck?”

Bucky froze, suddenly at a loss. Tony was all flushed in the face, and Steve was grinning, and his brain was stuck on a mental image of doing his push ups with Tony spread out beneath him. Naked. “Yes! I mean,  _no,_ I wouldn’t mind. That. At all.”

“Cool.” Tony tried to take another sip of coffee, looked confused when the cup was empty, then pulled out his phone and fiddled with it before scurrying out of the room.

Bucky watched him go, then noticed Steve was watching him watch Tony. “Sorry.”

Steve looked genuinely confused. “Sorry for… what, exactly?”

Which was a good question. “Uh. Tony. And you. I mean, three’s a crowd, so if you need me to, um, make myself scarce at some point, just let me know.”

“I’m fine, but if  _you_  need some one on one time with Tony just say the word.”

Steve gave him a smile, a pat on the back, and headed off to shower, leaving Bucky confused.

He might have thought about the offer for the rest of the day, might have still been trying to figure it all out when Tony walked in the following morning, dressed in a suit and obviously not intending to do anything but watch.

Of course, he tossed his jacket, and rolled up his sleeves, and loosened the tie, which left Bucky in a strange state where he spent the entire sparring session with Steve dreaming up an elaborate little fantasy involving Tony coming home at the end of a long day, and doing much the same thing. Only Bucky would do something nice, like give him a shoulder rub, or a blow job, and was so distracted by thinking about Tony’s hands in his hair, guiding his movements, that Steve managed to catch him right in the solar plexus and send him flying across the ring.

Embarrassing? Yes. But Tony rushed over to check on him, which was nice. At least he cared. And at least the punch took care of his arousal for him.

“Where were you?” Steve asked, helping him up.

“Um. Just… thinking,” Bucky answered, sneaking a quick glance at Tony before catching himself. “Thoughts.”

“Right.” Steve looked a bit like he might know what those thoughts were, which was odd, because if he  _did_ , he shouldn’t be smiling quite so much, should he?

“Thoughts,” Tony said, his hand hovering as if he was going to touch Bucky’s arm, then thought better of it. “They get you every time.”

Luckily, most of their workouts were fairly uneventful. He and Steve either sparred or did a circuit together, or tried to one up each other with reps on the heavier weights, while Tony provided commentary and had his breakfast.

“That was kind of insane,” Tony called, quickly stashing his phone as he walked over. “I’ve never seen a push-up that involved launching yourself in the air, bending to touch your toes, then landing in another push-up.”

Bucky shrugged. “I like the explosive ones. Bit more fun.”

Tony was staring at him, his eyes a little wide. “Explosive. Yes. That is an applicable word.”

“When are you planning to do more than offer commentary?” Steve asked, draping his arm around Tony’s shoulders. “It’s been a month and you haven’t even broken a sweat yet.”

Bucky stared at them. Steve was giving him a strange little challenging smile, while Tony continued to look flustered. Probably from having Steve practically hugging him.

“You can help, at least,” Steve continued. “I’ve got an idea! Bucky, give me plank position?” So, he did what was asked, hardly having time to wonder what Steve was up to before he heard, “Great. Tony, climb on.”

“Wait, what?” Tony sputtered.

“Climb on,” Steve repeated.

“What, like he’s a  _pony_?”

Steve laughed. “No, just,” there was the sound of shoes scuffing against the floor, and then warmth and weight against his back. “Like that! There you go. Bucky, go ahead and do some push-ups.”

So he did, because really, Tony didn’t  _weigh_  that much, and he was already there. On top of him. Just not in the circumstances he’d hoped it would happen. But, oddly enough, Tony began giggling as Bucky picked up the pace, sending them both up and down, up and down.

“You’re both disgustingly fit,” he accused. “Although… this could have practical applications in the bedroom.” Bucky almost collapsed. “I said that last bit out loud, didn’t I?”

“Sure did,” Steve answered happily as he helped Tony off of Bucky’s back.

It was all so confusing! Steve had to see that Tony was interested in him, but he wasn’t making a move. None of it made sense. The only thing that seemed cut and dry was that he was jealous as hell, and it was getting worse by the day.

Suddenly, it was like Steve was going out of his way to find reasons to touch Tony. Bucky suffered through hugs, shoulder rubs, playful tousling. And for some reason Steve felt the need to stare at him while doing it!

It got to the point where Bucky began drawing little mental lines in the sand. He’d tell himself that if Steve did X then he’d speak up, only when Steve did whatever it was he’d decided was the final straw, Bucky just changed the qualifying act to something else.

Of course, they were in the gym when he finally snapped.

They’d talked Tony into joining them that morning, and Steve was walking Tony through a series of throws. Bucky was the all too willing partner, which meant he wound up spending a good bit of time with Tony’s arms around him as Steve took his sweet time explaining the mechanics of the throw.

The first time Tony managed to legitimately toss him, he looked like he was glowing with pride. He  _beamed_  at Bucky, his entire face lit up like Christmas and Bucky was two seconds away from just kissing him—to hell with the consequences—when Steve wrapped an arm around Tony’s shoulders and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

Tony squirmed a bit, his cheeks pink, looking to Bucky with guilt in his eyes. Which made  _no sense!_

“What the fuck, Steve?” he shouted before he could censor himself.

“What?” Steve asked, all innocent like.

“You know he’s got a crush on you,” Bucky blurted, gesturing at Tony. “And I gotta think if you were interested you’d have asked him out already, but you haven’t, so that means you’re leading him on at the very least!”

“Wait,” Tony stammered, looking extremely confused.

“No, Tony, I’ve kept my mouth shut for ages and I feel like my head’s gonna explode!”

Steve was grinning ear to ear, arms folded across his chest. “What’s it to you?”

“What’s it… Are you  _kidding_  me? No way am I buying the innocent act, Steve. You know me well enough to know the signs. Hell, apparently my feelings for Tony are so obvious that even Thor’s noticed, and he’s hardly ever here.”

“Feelings?” Tony squeaked. His mouth was hanging open in shock.

Bucky sagged. “Yeah. Shit. I didn’t want to say anything, because it’s obvious you’re in love with Steve, only Rogers is being an uncharacteristic jerk, and…”

Steve was still grinning. The sort of grin that made Bucky think over what he’d just blurted. Tony interrupted his thought process though.

“Whoa, hold up, I’m not in love with Steve,  _you_  are!”

Even Steve seemed a little surprised by this. “No I’m not,” Bucky insisted. “Or, well, I love him like a brother, but I…”

“Tony, we’re not a couple,” Steve interrupted. “I told you that.”

Tony was looking back and forth between the two of them. “Sure, but, uh, I thought that was a joke. You’re living together, and…”

“He carries you to bed when you pass out on our couch,” Bucky snapped. “And you blush around him all the time!”

“No,” Tony said, grinding his teeth, “I blush around  _you_  all the time, because I’m a horrible friend for having feelings for my best friend’s boyfriend.”

It was quiet for a moment, but then Steve clapped them both on the back, and stalked away. “And my work here is done. Don’t come back upstairs until you’ve kissed, idiots.”

“You’re a punk, Rogers!”

“What just happened?” Tony asked, looking around for answers.

Bucky burst out laughing. “Steve. Steve happened. He figured out we liked each other and were being stupid about it, so he’s been trying to make me jealous for weeks now. The loveable jerk.”

Tony grabbed hold of Bucky’s wrist. “So, just to clarify, we both like each other.”

“Yes.”

Tony stepped closer. “And by  _like_  I mean…”

“I spend ninety percent of my day fantasizing about kissing you,” Bucky answered. “You’re _sure_ you don’t like Steve?”

“I’ve been obsessively watching you work out every morning and desperately trying to hide my erection while doing it. Damn, are we really that stupid?”

Bucky shrugged a shoulder. “Guess we are. Hey, at least we’re stupid together.”

Tony smiled at him—that shy, vulnerable smile that had been driving Bucky bananas—and suddenly he wanted to kick himself for being so dense. Tony only smiled at _him_  like that, and what a smile it was.

“I think Steve said something about kissing?” Bucky said, sharing a shy smile of his own as he stepped even closer.

“That he did. Guess we better get to it. Captain’s orders,” which was when Bucky leaned forward to finally he the kiss he’d been daydreaming about.

Luckily, turned out it was worth the wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Be sure to check out the [amazing art that goes with this story](http://imaginetonyandbucky.tumblr.com/post/122682375360/fanart-for-dezinformatsias-work-out-fic)!


End file.
